I’ve been looking forward to making a model of blood for a long time, because I thought I had 5 different models of blood pinned on my anatomy board. I don’t. So, I re-started from scratch and modified what is in our anatomy textbook (affiliate link).
Alternatively titled: How to make a model of blood using what’s in your kitchen (but that’s too much of a mouthful).
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Supplies for model of blood (affiliate links):
Mixing Bowl
How to make a model of blood step by step
1. Measure out 1 cup of light corn syrup. Start to do this and discover the old bottle you had, was THAT OLD and throw it away because it won’t pour. That and there was something suspicious in the bottom of the bottle. EWWWWWW.
This is the plasma, which makes up most of your blood and is a light straw color
2. Pour your corn syrup into the bowl. (For the rest of the steps I’ll combine this into one) I wanted to highlight part of what makes our experiments go smoother, I move the steps around so everyone gets to do things, AND try to make sure everyone gets to pour and measure.
3. Measure out 3/4 cup of RED jelly beans (or red hots, no one likes red hots so we got jelly beans). Pour them into the bowl, make sure to get the ones stuck to your measuring cup out.
These represent red blood cells. Red blood cells do all the delivery work bringing food and air to the other cells and carrying away the waste.
4. Stir your mixture around. Notice how the red jelly beans give the appearance of red to the plasma.
5. Drop in your single white jelly bean and stir it around.
This represents the white blood cell, in this scale model of a WELL person’s blood there are not very many white blood cells. The number goes up when you are sick.
6. Shake in the candy sprinkles. Each of my kids were given a chance to shake in some platelets, so we may have had more platelets than strictly neccessary.
The candy sprinkles are the platelets. Platelets are the every man of your blood. They make up the scabs you get, they repair problems in your blood vessels, they do all the dirty work.
7. Finally record what you noticed as you made your model of blood. This particular time the kids records weren’t the best. They were too excited about the big huge mess they’d made making it. That and keeping it to show Daddy.
Come back next week for our lesson on blood types.
Model of Blood posts elsewhere
Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational
Great model, and so simple and inexpensive.
Thanks! I loved how easy it was too.
Looks like fun. I always like how you explain how to do activities with the kids, not just for them.
Thanks! It is such a struggle sometimes to let them do it and not me. Especially because I like to do it too.
i am happy that you simplified it> i have seen all the different models< too
Some of them really weren’t that much more complicated, but involved buying things I wasn’t going to use again (lima beans, those don’t get eaten here).
This is a great way to make the model, using inexpensive items. I shall have to bookmark it for our future lesson. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! It was a blast to do.
I love your model!
Great model! I imagine the kids enjoyed eating the candy as well 🙂
Oh my yes they did.
Great model! I love when things come together well! I am pinning this for later 🙂
I do too, I hope it works as well for you as it did for me.
What a great way to learn about blood! I had to laugh when your corn syrup didn’t pour. Just the other day my husband told me he didn’t want me using corn syrup because it was not food.
Yeah, after our last experience, I may well side with him. Of course my corn syrup had been sitting there for several years, so it’s kinda like honey crystallizing as it gets older.
Super cool! I pinned for the future (if there is a future, in which we have time for hands-on science like that).
The model doesn’t really take that long, it’s remembering to have the ingredients……
“Alternatively titled: How to make a model of blood using what’s in your kitchen (but that’s too much of a mouthful).”
Ha! It may be a mouthful but it totally nails it! I love things I can do with stuff we already have on hand!
So true.
Great activity! I am doing this with my students next week (3/4th grade health class), and was wondering where you found the “blood” worksheet for them to fill out. Thanks!
It’s from the notebook that goes with our textbook, I’ll add in the link for where I got it.